Page 98 of The Mob: Shio Cuppacio
“Married! Shit, congratulations, nigga! I haven’t talked to your ass in two weeks and already missed a few chapters. Gotdamn, you move fast.”
“Yeah, shit has been movin’ fast as fuck in my world. You good, though?”
I knew Leader was more than straight, especially since his brother was still holding him down in the streets.
“Yeah, I’m good. I’m just tryna process the fact that yo’ ass is married.”
I laughed. “Shit, me too!”
“Aye, I need a favor. My... The girl I was dealing with... My people can't get in contact with her. She’s not responding back. I know you’re living in Jagoda Bay now and shit. She has family that live out there. My brother can’t get out of Cove City right now, so I wanted to see if he could Zelle you some bread, and you can get it to her. I want lil’ baby to live her life, but I promisedthat I would have her set always, and I meant that shit. You think you could do that for me?”
Leader had been trying to give me some money since I got out, and as much as I wasn’t in a position to turn shit down, I still declined. Bad enough, my brothers, Shio included, had come through for me when I was released. I didn’t want any more handouts. I was ready to put in the work to get my own bread.
“Aye, Tune…” Shio stuck his head out the door.
“Yeah?”
“We up on the private maternity wing.” Shio paused. “Don had her sister brought up there too. Come up when you done.”
I nodded. He didn’t seem fucked up about Glow, but still, we had to have a conversation.
Once Shio was gone, I made sure Leader was still on the line. “I got you, bruh. You know her people’s address?”
“Nah… I can get it, though. She got a big sister. Her name Glow.”
Choking on my spit, I pulled the phone from my face and looked at it. When I processed his words, I put the phone back to my ear, ignoring my racing heart. “Whose name is Glow?”
“My girl… Well, her name ain’t Glow, her big sister’s is. I think she like a food blogger or some shit. I need you to get some bread to Glee and tell her I love and miss her. I don’t want her going ghost on my people. I’ll keep my distance, but if she keeps running, I’ma go back on my word and reach out to her myself, and I ain't tryna do that. I just want you to give her the bread and tell me she good. That’s all. A nigga ain’t been feelin’ right. I feel like… like some shit is wrong. Just give her the bread and let me know she’s good. That’s all I ask.”
The fuck! This nigga had to be shittin’ me.
Jagoda Bay was too big to be so fucking small.
Chapter 17
Calista Glee
The scent of stainless steel equipment and sanitized surfaces created a metallic tang in the air. Although the room had been chaotic less than twenty hours ago, it was now eerily quiet and dimly lit, with only the light behind the bed powered on. The sharp cramps in my lower belly, rawness on my skin from the oversized pad, and thudding from the twelve stitches I’d received didn’t outweigh the pain of my broken heart.
To add salt to the wound, the screams and tears of my sister replayed in my mind like a broken record. When I thought I couldn’t feel any worse, my mother came hours later and looked at me with enough disappointment to fill the entire floor of labor and delivery here at Jagoda One. I didn’t know how Blayke’s parents had gotten wind that I had given birth, but they made the drive without even coming inside and forced my bestie to leave. She was all I had in this moment, and I needed her more than anything. But she was gone, along with everyone else in my life.
Nine months ago, I was an excited freshman at Blake University in Cove City, Georgia. I had the opportunity of a lifetime to attend my dream school on a full-ride scholarshipthat included amazing perks like a brand-new condo for student housing. The problems I faced then were what my bestie and I wanted to eat and finishing my homework before the 11:59 p.m. deadline. I had my life planned out since elementary school: attend BSU, go to medical school, complete my residency, where I would probably meet the man of my dreams, land my dream job as an attending doctor, get married, and have beautiful children who would more than likely follow in their parents' footsteps and become doctors as well. That was my plan, and up until nine months ago, I’d been on track with it.
Resting my head against the pillow, my lashes brushed my cheek as I sighed. My body wasn’t prepared for childbirth. I felt like a fish out of water. I didn’t know the first thing about caring for a baby, let alone a newborn. I’d wanted to be a physician, not an obstetrician, gynecologist, or pediatrician. I had no idea what was next when it came to post-baby care, how to care for my body while it was healing, or how to keep this baby alive. I hadn’t even known I was pregnant. Sure, I’d been sick off and on since Halloween, but I thought it was stress and seasonal illness. Georgia’s weather was weird as hell; I was always walking around sneezing and had some kind of cold. My period had been spotty, but I chalked that up to stress too. My life changed the moment I fell in love with a boy, only to be heartbroken weeks later. I couldn’t eat or sleep, and all I did was cry, so of course, I didn’t expect my period to be normal. I hadn’t gained any weight to signal something was happening, so walking around bump-less was the biggest indicator of me not knowing I was with child. I’d carried this child for a full thirty-eight weeks and didn’t feel a kick or anything. I was upset about my predicament, but I was also in shock that this had happened to me.
Leader and I’s meeting wasn’t normal. I’d been added to a group chat with his family when they thought they’d been adding him. His sister, brother, mother, and I exchanged banter beforehe was added to the chat. Upon seeing that I was defending him regarding his family's criticism of his choice in baby mama, he began to call my number. I’d been bored when I sent those responses, but that didn’t stop Leader from calling me. I didn’t answer, and God must have been playing some sick game with me because later that night, my best friend brought her boyfriend over, who had his brother with him. They turned out to be the very people I’d been texting in the group chat. From then on, it was love at first sight with Leader.
My mother and sister sent me to college to get an education. I had been set up, not wanting for anything. Thanks to my mother’s weekly deposits and my sister paying me whenever she received a check from being a social media influencer, along with the random groceries and packages she sent, all I had to do was go to class and study. Leader was everything a girl like me shouldn’t have been interested in. He was involved with the mother of his son, who, I might add, wasn’t trying to let up off him. He also sold drugs—not just small bags, but large quantities. He’d never made it official with me, no matter how much I wanted it. He didn’t think he had a life outside of the streets. In Leader’s mind, his future was either death or jail. He believed he’d more than likely fall in his father’s footsteps, who had been killed when he was a boy, forcing Leader and his brother, Emperor, to grow up too fast. I had no business getting involved with Leader, yet here I was—a patient at Jagoda One hospital who had just pushed out his second child.
The first man who spoiled me, the first boy who spent the night, my first date, my first kiss, my first love—Leader had been my everything. Still, he didn’t fight for me. He let me walk out of his life, just like his brother let Blayke walk out of his. My best friend and I knew we were in too deep when our lives went from being college freshmen to two girls who were in love with grown-ass men. The day everything fell apart was the dayLeader’s baby's mother confronted me, showing proof that she was still romantically involved with him and that her best friend had been with Emperor. She literally showed us our men lying in their beds. To make things worse, Blayke found out she was pregnant the same night. My friend knew she couldn’t bring a baby around her Christian parents, so we rented a car and drove to the nearest state for an abortion. That day, we made a vow to swear off boys and focus on our studies. I was supposed to be a doctor, and Blayke dreamed of being a nurse. We were back on track by the end of September, when, in reality, I should have been getting an abortion too.
Knock knock knock
Before I faced the door, I peered at the digital clock next to the TV.
5:59 a.m.
I’d been awake for the last three hours and hadn’t gone back to sleep since the previous nurse checked my vitals.
